Ceridian Corporation (NYSE:CEN) recently urged shareholders to approve the company's proposed slate of directors during its next annual meeting but several activist shareholders and dissidents still stand in the way - namely, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management.

“Replacing the current board introduces significant and unnecessary risk to completion of our $36 per share cash merger," said Ceridian officials in a statement.  "Reelecting the current board today will provide the greatest assurance that our $36 per share cash merger will be completed."

Bill Ackman has already come out in support of the buyout transaction but believes that having its own candidates on the board would serve as a failsafe for investors incase the current buyout falls through. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) - a very prominant shareholder proxy advisory firm - agreed and recommended that investors vote in two of Pershing Square's nominees.

Ceridian countered today, saying, "If Pershing Square truly wanted to support our $36 per share cash merger, it would support the reelection of our board and allow the merger to close, knowing that if the merger did not close, it could immediately renew its election contest."

As for now, it appears as if the merger transaction will go through either way, but shareholders may be safer with Pershing Square's nominees in place. The activist hedge fund has made to claims to replace management, so the actual risk of a deal falling through should be relatively low. Regardless, this is definitely a stituation worth watching!

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